TAMPA -- Like the Babe pointing to the bleachers, John Tortorella called his shot.

It may be brazen to do so but it's understandable when a team is facing the proverbial do-or-die in the Stanley Cup final.

Moments after his Tampa Bay Lightning fell 3-2 to the Calgary Flames -- in both Game 5 and in the Cup final series -- Tortorella was asked if he expected to return to the St. Pete Times Forum for a Game 7 Monday.

"Yes," Tortorella said confidently, "we will."

Can't blame the man.

However, there's no doubt the Lightning have to be better than last night's performance. Much better, funny as that sounds after an overtime defeat.

"You are not going to win a Game 5 in the finals playing 40 minutes like we did," Tortorella said.

"We battled back in the third period, we found our game finally in the third period after we scored the goal (to tie the game) and I thought we played a pretty decent overtime. But it simply comes back and bites you in the (butt) when a team simply wins all the battles in the first 40. We have got to go back there and grab one in their building."

Otherwise it'll be the Calgary Flames sipping from the Stanley Cup.

Tortorella's belief was echoed in the Lightning room.

"For two periods especially, we didn't play very well. For some reason, we didn't have our legs," said Bolts forward Tim Taylor. "But this is behind us. We can't sit here and complain and point fingers at this time in the season.

"We have to go there and make everybody responsible and accountable to get ready for the next one."

Unlike last night's performance from the Eastern Conference champs.

"They came out and played well and put a lot of pressure on us," Taylor said.

"We just didn't respond very well for whatever reason.

"I know it's a big game, I know it's the Stanley Cup final but, holy geez, we have to respond better than that. It's a situation where we have to come out and play a better game.

"Every time someone questions this hockey team, whether it be inside or outside, this team responds. I wouldn't accept anything but that from each and every guy and I know they will."

Should the Lightning win the Cup, it'll only be the fifth time in 19 situations in which a team dropped Game 5 to fall behind 3-2 in a series and still sip from the mug.

The last team to do that was the 2001 Colorado Avalanche, a club that included Lightning forward Chris Dingman.